Inside world’s largest football academy costing £130m

They are prepared to splash the cash on some of world football’s most lucrative contracts.

But Guangzhou Evergrande are also spending significant amounts on developing youth – and are possibly China’s best hope of ever being a success on the world stage.

The free-spending Chinese Super League club boasts one of the most staggering football facilities in the world, with their academy boasting 50 football pitches – and over 2,500 students.

Guangzhou’s football school is spread over a remarkable 300 acres of land and cost £130million to complete.

The end goal is to help China win the World Cup. Pretty ambitious, considering their current world ranking of 65th (up nearly 30 spots in two years), but still behind nations like the Cape Verde Islands, Bolivia and Albania.

The sheer scale of the Guangzhou football academy(Image: CTV News/Youtube)

It is the largest football academy in the world(Image: CTV News/Youtube)

A coach shouts orders at the students(Image: Getty Images AsiaPac)

Staff, students and guests receive a daily remainder of what the academy is all about, as they pass a 40-foot tall replica of the World Cup trophy outside the front gates.

Such was the nation’s ambition to improve their chances, the Guangzhou academy was turned from rural land into the world’s biggest football school in just 10 months.